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Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Gov. Kristi Noem is hugged by her husband, Bryon Noem, at her inauguration ceremony in Pierre, S.D., Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Audience members watch as Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Audience members watch as Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Gov. Kristi Noem thanks her husband, Bryon Noem, at her inauguration ceremony in Pierre, S.D., Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota.
Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

Gov.-elect Kristi Noem is sworn in as South Dakota's 33rd governor, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 in Pierre, S.D. Noem is the first woman to hold the position of governor in South Dakota. Loren Townsley / Argus Leader

As our brief annual legislative session grinds into gear, we’ll start to be able to tell if Kristi Noem’s gender plays a significant or merely symbolic role in her approach to governing.

Several nagging issues stand out that might finally get the attention they deserve, given the relatively high number of current female legislators complemented by a woman wielding the power of chief executive.

One is the stubborn reluctance of lawmakers in Pierre to take an actual stand against sexual harassment in their workplace.

After a rash of revelations about inappropriate capitol encounters ranging from bawdy talk to rape a few years ago, leading state legislators punted the issue to the following session.

The band-aid of a response they finally came up with was a brief, non-mandatory training session about workplace sexual harassment. A feeble step in the right direction.

Lawmakers must establish clear guidelines for appropriate behavior with colleagues, staffers and pages – addressing how to report, confidentiality, levels of discipline, penalties for retaliation and modes of appeal. Creating a safe and positive working environment is a priority that should come from the top.

Yet South Dakota is dead last in percentage of businesses owned by women, ranking 51st behind all other states and the District of Columbia. Fewer than 30 percent of South Dakota businesses were owned by women, according to data gathered in the U.S. Department of Commerce's 2012 Survey of Business Owners.

For an already “business-friendly” state whose new governor wants to make it even more so, South Dakota doesn’t seem to be fertile ground for women looking to start a small business.

One route to clearing a path for more female business owners is to make finding care for their young children more accessible and affordable. That increases the realistic chance that they can leave stable employment under someone else and become their own boss.

We can do better by South Dakota’s children than we are now, and we can certainly do better by its working mothers.

Women now hold 35 percent of the seats in the South Dakota House. That beats our federal-level counterpart by 11 percentage points.

Even with a woman in the governor’s seat, though, we’re still a far cry from the genuine representation of half our state’s population.

A full one-third of the record number of U.S. Congresswomen won their seats for the first time in the November election. But we may be seeing less of a wave and more of a gradual incoming tide.

That’s better for our state and for our nation in the long run. Waves can crash against breakwaters like the longstanding boys club in Pierre, but tides are inexorable. We hope this one never recedes.